AFFILIATES

Friday, March 30, 2012

Sigma UK has announced the suggested retail price (SRP) of the new Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC APO OS HSM lens. Available in mid April for Canon fit and mid May for Nikon and Sigma fit, the lens features Sigma’s proprietary OS (Optical Stabiliser) system, Super Multi-Layer Coating, six SLD glass elements and “hyper-sonic” focus motor. The price of the lens is £949.99.

At the same time, Sigma Corporation of America has announced the immediate availability of the upgraded 50-150mm lens, with an MSRP of $1,099.

Akvis has released Version 5.5 of Akvis Magnifier. Available as a plug-in or a standalone program, the software is claimed to “deliver good results” when ‘uprezzing’ a photo to create poster-sized enlargements. “Resizing pictures with Akvis Magnifier yields a much higher quality image than simple bicubic interpolation,” the company says. Version 5.5 adds compatibility with the upcoming Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop Elements 11 (plug-in version), fixes a bug which caused the program to crash when using the graphics processing unit on a computer running MacOS X Lion 10.7.3, and improves colour processing when loading raw images. Registered users of Magnifier can update their version free of charge.

PlayMemories Studio is a new and easy-to-use application for viewing, managing, editing and sharing digital photos and HD video clips on the Sony PlayStation 3 console. The integrated viewer in PlayMemories Studio lets you browse and view photos and videos – including 3D images and clips – on your TV screen. A Map view displays all your geotagged images on an on-screen globe, while one-button effects allow you to turn your photos into monochrome/sepia, emulate the effect of a soft-focus lens or a toy camera etc. PlayMemories Studio also allows users to tag, trim and join video clips.PlayMemories Studio can be purchased at the PlayStation Store, with a 30-day trial available as a free download.

Entries are now open for the Marwell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012 competition. The charity is calling all budding photographers to enter images which celebrate a variety of wildlife and capture the essence of nature. This year, the competition has four categories including Native, Cute & Funny, Marwell residents and Marwell endangered. Up to five images can be submitted per person. A charge of £5 applies, although junior entries are free. The submission deadline is 14 September 2012. To enter visit the website below.

Ricoh has released a firmware update for the Ricoh CX6 digital compact camera. Version 1.24 fixes a bug that sometimes caused parts of the live view feed to momentarily turn purple upon a half-press of the shutter release in “Toy Camera” and “Miniaturise” modes. You can download the firmware upgrade from the website below.

UKTV has announced a photography contest to celebrate the launch of its new Human Planet series on Eden and Eden HD. “This breathtaking eight-part series takes the viewer to meet the people who survive by building complex, exciting and often mutually beneficial relationships with their animal neighbours and the hostile elements of the natural world,” the company says. Photographer Timothy Allen has been shadowing the crew during the production of the series, documenting the lives of communities in the Arctic, tropical rainforest and remote desert locations. Those participating in Eden’s Living Portrait competition on Facebook by uploading a photo of what “their human planet” means to them are in for a chance to win a 2-day on-location photo-shoot with Timothy at La Merce Festival, Barcelona’s largest street party.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Photographer and film-maker William Klein will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award at the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards. He will be honoured at the annual gala award ceremony on 26 April at taking place at London’s Park Lane Hilton Hotel. An intimate exhibition of his work, curated by Michael Benson, will be shown as part of the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House in London from 27th April – 20th May.

Lomography has announced the Diana F+ Sahara special-edition medium-format film camera. Decorated with palm trees and pyramids, the Diana F+ Sahara is wrapped in printed leather and comes bundled with a flash unit. Using 120 Film, you can experiment with multiple exposures, long exposures and even pinhole shots. The Diana F+ Sahara is available for €99 from the Lomography Online Shop.

Seim Effects Photo Tools has announced complete updates for its collection of Lightroom toolkits designed for use by photographers. The company’s Power Workflow 3, Silver Shadows 2 and Color Fantasies are now fully compatible with Lightroom 4, including a dedicated set of every effect for Lightroom 4 that takes advantage of the new 2012 process version. In addition, Seim Effects is offering the updates free to all existing users of the current product line. New customers can purchase the toolkits through the website below.

Sony has issued firmware updates for the Sony A65 and the Sony A77 digital SLT cameras. Version 1.05 adds several enhancements to both models, including faster auto review response, shortened power-off times, improved front/rear control wheel response, enhanced auto focus accuracy in high-contrast situations and improved AF speed with the new Sony 500mm f/4 lens. Additionally, both cameras can now intelligently correct vignetting, lateral chromatic aberration and distortion for a total of 11 A-mount lenses. Click through / scroll down for the download links.